For the Gun Owner Who Loves Jesus

I am the son of a 20 year military veteran. I am very proud of that fact. My father served his country and growing up on Military bases and hopping around the world was a fantastic way to grow up (and I sometimes miss it).

When I was younger I was OBSESSED with weaponry.

And when I say obsessed, I mean it.

As a baby my mom would hold me and I would grab her cross necklace and use it as a sword (stabbing my mother in the neck… on accident of course.) My mom even tells me I’d bite my toast into the shape of a pistol to shoot imaginary wolves and critters.

My first “gun” was a red rider BB gun. It was my faithful companion as I slew myriads of imaginary enemies and targets.

I remember my Dad teaching me about guns when I got older. He told me that a firearm wasn’t a toy, that they were dangerous and never to be careless with them. He told me never point a gun at anyone, not even if you’re joking around. He taught me that a gun is a useful tool but it is still a powerful weapon that needs to be handled like one. #WiseMan

Growing up in the south it seemed like gun ownership and Christianity went hand in hand in a lot of ways. So I never asked God about guns because it didn’t seem like his opinion would be different from mine, or my dad’s, or my pastor’s.

My view on guns and self-defense were never really challenged until I read the story of Jim Elliot from the book Through Gates of Splendor written by Jim Elliot’s wife Elisabeth Elliot.

Jim Elliot was a missionary (along with five other families) to the country of Ecuador. Their mission was to bring the Gospel to an indigenous and primitive tribe called the Aucas.

Jim Elliot and four other men would fly over where they believed the tribe could see them. They would drop off little trinkets as a kind of peace-offering. Finally one day they landed in hopes of making contact with the tribe.

To love them, serve them, share Christ with them.

But they were brutally murdered by the tribesman.

The most incredible (and offensive) part of this whole story was the decisions they made before they flew away to meet their unforeseen doom. The group considered whether or not they’d take a gun.

And in the end they decided they would not, because they were ready to meet Jesus, and the Auca were not.

Reading this story brings tears to my eyes. How full of faith were these men to not love their own lives even to the point of death? I honestly don’t know if I have that much faith.

Yet the result of the sacrifice proved the ways of Christ.

Their act of selflessness and courage started a spark of revival.

The wives moved into the Auca Village and through power of forgiveness, the Auca tribe was transformed and saved.

Completely.

Now that’s the Gospel in action. And I want that kind of Love.

We forget that when we see Christ dead upon the cross, we discover a God who would rather die than kill his enemies. We forget all of this because the disturbing truth is this—it’s hard to believe in Jesus. ―Brian Zahnd / A Farewell to Mars.

This whole article is not to say we should melt down our guns and live in a commune. If that’s your dream, go for it.

As a gun-owing, America-loving, Jesus-follower, I want to ask the question “Where do we (Christians) draw the line with gun ownership?”

Recently my Dad gifted me his first gun, a beautiful 12 gauge shotgun. One day I hope to pass it down to my sons and teach them the same lessons Pops taught me.

But to be honest, it bothers me when my Christian friends say, “you just never know when you’ll need a gun, I have a conceal and carry so I can have it on me at all times.”

I know I might offend many Christian gun owners by saying this. And understand that this is me processing. But what part of always being ready to blow someone away into eternity sounds like Jesus? Where do we draw the line as Christians and say, “I’m going to believe the best about people and not live in constant fear of being taken advantage of.”

Jesus washed Judas’ feet knowing full and well that Judas was going to cause harm to his person with his act of betrayal. If Jesus protected himself like most Christians these days he would have yelled “SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND” and blown away the posse that came to arrest him in the garden.

What did Jesus say though when Peter tried to protect Jesus and maybe even rightfully do so with deadly force?

“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.”

You see folks, we don’t have any rights anymore. We are a part of the Kingdom of God (which is an upside-down kingdom). Here, Jesus is King, and he invited us to turn the other cheek, walk the extra mile, wash the feet of a traitor and love our enemies (even with the risk of getting physically harmed).

The Bible was not written in America and we can’t look at the Scriptures through Red White and Blue lenses. We are Christ-followers, before we are Americans. Just because it is lawful and legal for you to carry a gun around everywhere does not mean it’s the biblical thing to do.

If you live by the sword, you will die by the sword.

I know we can find arguments, bible-verses and laws that can perpetuate this conversation forever. But what if this gun-toting, always-on-defense lifestyle is perpetuating the violence we’re seeing in our nation?

We see it as a deterrent to the violence by a show of force. But what if we loved so extravagantly that we kept our gun in the closet and instead of partnering with fear, we stepped out in faith to say, “I believe that nothing shall by any means harm me in Jesus name. Thank you Lord that you’re my protector and I can trust in you.”

(What a shift in the atmosphere that could cause!)

Our negativity acted out via guns is giving more glory to the Devil than to God. It’s time for the church to lead the change.

Jesus prefers dying for his enemies than killing them. And as unnatural as that feels to me, I choose the ways of Christ.

Yes, last year my Dad gifted me with a beautiful 12 gauge shotgun, it was his first gun and a family heirloom, it’s something I hope to always have because it is both a gift and a useful tool.

But I believe that if I set my heart to see God as my defender (and not myself) I will never have to take that shotgun out of the closet.

Unless I’m going on a hunting trip of course.

Peace.

Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. Ecclesiastes 9:18

Max is from Baton Rouge Louisiana, 24 and happily married to Witni. They are singer-songwriters and worship leaders at Catch the Fire Raleigh. They also started an Americana/country project called Saint Bear. Max enjoys old country music, Cajun food, good friends, good whiskey and LSU football.

9 Responses

I’m just a dude who loves the Lord. I’m a king’s kid. I’m also a firearms owner with a background in the military where I saw combat as an infantryman. I’m a member of the NRA and the Canadian NFA. I’m also ordained with an M.Div and working on my doctorate in Christian counselling. I’m an apparent walking contradiction.

A firearm is like a car, a knife, an axe, etc. It is a weapon when the user chooses to use it as a weapon. In North America there are more deaths involving automobiles than there are deaths involving firearms. does that mean I am not a Christian if I choose to drive a car? The firearms I own have put holes in pieces of paper for the purposes of recreation. I am not permitted to carry a concealed firearm by law, so I don’t carry. Would I carry? Yes. Luke 22:36 is part of the reason why I don’t see it as a huge problem. Jesus advocated for the disciples to sell their cloak to buy a sword. Without a cloak a man was basically considered to be naked. The sword was the primary weapon of war. Granted, I don’t think this is Jesus’ Charleton Heston “from my cold dead hands” call to arms. It is something we need to consider. From all appearances, Jesus didn’t seem to be speaking symbolically here.

I don’t believe guns are the issue. I believe heard issues are the issue. If I walk with a firearm because I am scared of what may happen, then I’m not abiding in love. If I need to carry a gun to feel secure, then I am not secured in God’s love. If I have a desire to get into a shootout or kill somebody…… I may need a bit more than I am likely aware of.

Interestingly in the Luke passage you refer to, the Disciples bring the swords they own and Jesus quickly tells them that’s enough. They do not end up going out to purchase any more- maybe a hint that it is symbolic?

I carry for the sake of others. If I was put into a life threat that shooting another person could solve, I’d be ready to meet Christ. For there sake to have more time. But acting as an usher in my church I carry, I wear a BP vest under my suit coat. 37 rounds of unpleasant reality do effect my ability to dance in the spirit but standing guard for those people to freely worship is an act of praise as well. We all have a roll. Do not be ashamed of it, even if it isn’t one others believe in.

I wholeheartedly agree with this article. Nate Saint’s words “they are not ready for Heaven yet, but we are…”, changed me a long time ago. Because of their witness unto death, the Waodoni were redeemed and rescued. I do not own a gun because I do not need it. To live is Christ, to die is gain. If someone wants to shoot me, then I go to be with Jesus. I cannot send someone into an eternity in Hell without a thought. I do not even want that temptation.

I would disagree with the commenter Ryan here- a gun is a weapon full stop, while the other things he describes have primary practical uses, whose misuse could lead to death, but that is not their primary purpose.

A gun is not transport, It’s not practical to chop a tree down with a gun (yes I’ve seen mythbusters) or use it to cut firewood. A gun can’t cut food for a meal or cut cloth to make a garment.

A guns sole reason for being made is to maim or kill another living being.

It’s appalling that more often than not the same christians that quickly espouse that they are anti abortion, should Justify possession of an object whose only purpose is to maim and kill another person.

‘For protection’ should not be an excuse. Can you guarantee that,should the worse happen, would you be quick enough the draw to stop an attacker with a gun? And if you are, then could you really live with murdering another human being? Could you face their families? Yourself? Bear in mind saying and doing are two different things.

How do you circle that square of being ‘anti abortion’ but happy to kill a fully formed human being. Do you think that will fly with Jesus when you meet him face to face at the end- one who says, among other outcasts, they relate to the criminal in prison?

And of course, if there were stricter gun laws, perhaps your attacker wouldn’t have that gun in the first place. You wouldn’t need to own a gun at all.

But you wouldn’t have that feeling of protection- that power that a gun gives you. The spirit of fear stokes that need. And really that’s what it’s about. Fear and Power.

Yes it’s hard, but being a follower of Christ is hard. It means not giving in to fear, and not having the power of life and death that, in a perfect world, ought to be Gods alone.

It’s a massive responsibility to have a job that gives you that power. I don’t envy the policeman. Or the soldier. But my issue is with private (Christian) citizens hypocrisy and the denial that they have made the freedom to own a gun a kind of idol to be worshipped. Defended like a religion.

And the victims of the many massacres there have been, and sadly will be in the future, are literal sacrifices to the idol of that “freedom”.

If God told you to not carry or use a gun, then you better not. The Lord has not instructed me. I do not drink whiskey. That is a choice I made with the Lord’s persuasion. Whiskey kills many people on the highway and in the home. Innocent people usually not drunk. It is your decision whether you want to drink. It is my Lord who doesn’t mind me carrying.